General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) and their dealers are negotiating with U.S. lawmakers about congressional demands that the company provide a list of dealerships slated to be shut.

Top executives at the auto maker and representatives of dealers were in discussions Thursday with staffers from the Senate Commerce Committee to find a compromise. Among the issues is whether the list should be made public, a move opposed by dealers because of the stigma associated with such a list.

"It would just be a devastating financial effect if their names were released," GM spokesman Greg Martin said, since many dealers would remain open through the fall of 2010. GM and the National Automobile Dealers Association said dealers should have the option of whether to come forward.

GM Chief Executive Frederick "Fritz" Henderson agreed during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Wednesday to provide the list to Congress. But in talks scheduled to resume Friday, the company and congressional staffers were discussing what, if any information, the company provided to the committee would be made public. Committee aides were studying whether Senate rules protecting the disclosure of proprietary information would block such a list from being made public.

GM, which filed for bankruptcy this week, plans to close as many as 2,600 dealerships as part of its restructuring, but many wouldn't be closed until October 2010. Chrysler LLC, also in bankruptcy and which plans to close 789 dealerships next week, has agreed to provide a list to the committee.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., and other U.S. lawmakers said they need the list to determine the companies' rationale in choosing which dealerships to shut. Some lawmakers have said rural areas are being disproportionately hit by the closings and questioned whether politics influenced the process.

Henderson and Chrysler President Jim Press testified Wednesday that they targeted underperforming dealerships. They said the cuts are needed to improve the value of their brands and ultimately boost sales.

-By Josh Mitchell and Kristina Peterson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com